Disposable ash tray



Aug. 4, 1964 P. SULLINS DISPOSABLE ASH TRAY Filed March 13, 1962 Paa/ fad/07$ ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,143,206 DTSPOSABLE ASH TRAY Paul Sniiins, 795 Mapie St, Cressett, Ark. Fiied Mar. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 179,434 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-41) This invention relates to an ash receiver and more particularly to an individual, disposable cigarette or cigar ash receiver adapted to be packaged with a cigarette or cigar.

Smokers frequently find themselves in need of a small, easily carried and disposable ash receiver particularly at crowded social events. In such circumstances, ash trays may be unavailable or full and many smokers will allow ashes to drop on a fioor or rug. Such procedure not only soils the fioor or rug and results in unsightly litter but creates a definite fire hazard.

While individual disposable ash receivers heretofore have been devised, none has proved completely satisfactory. Some such prior art devices are constructed integral with a cigarette and must be left on the cigarette while is is being smoked, this causing inconvenience to the smoker and giving the cigarette an unsightly appearance. Other available disposable ash trays either have been too large to be practical or to be conveniently packaged with cigarettes or have been characterized by by constructions which render difiicult the deposition therein of ashes.

To overcome the disadvantage of prior art ash receivers, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved disposable ash receiver which encloses and can be packaged with an individual cigarette or cigar and yet provide a highly accessible depository for ashes.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved individual disposable ash receiver having a compact construction which facilitates packing with cigarettes or cigars without substantially increasing the size of the package but may be opened to provide a convenient trough to receive ashes and the cigarette butt after smoking.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such an improved ash receiver which is inexpensive and simple in construction.

Broadly, the invention embraces an individual disposable ash receiver comprising an elongated tubular body configuration to removably encase an elongated smokeable tobacco product and to be thus packaged with said product, said body having a closed end and a sidewall having a closed lower portion of substantial length adjoining said closed end, said sidewall having an upper portion with a longitudinal opening therein to define a trough to receive ashes deposited in said opening and to guide said ashes into said closed lower portion. Preferably the upper portion is normally tubular with a longitudinal severance line which permits the upper portion to be opened to form the trough. For convenience the longitudinal severance line may be discontinuous or otherwise be provided with separable bridging means to normally hold the severance line closed. Alternatively, the severance line may be a continuous out without any bridging means.

The invention having been generally described, a preferred specific embodiment will now be discussed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an individual disposable ash receiver constructed according to the principles of the present invention showing the ash receiver enclosing a cigarette;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the ash receiver removed from the cigarette with its upper portion opened to form a trough to receive ashes.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the blank from which the individual disposable ash receiver is formed.

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of an opened package of cigarettes containing two ash receivers.

The body 1 of the ash receiver is formed from thin flexible material such as conventional paperboard. If desired a fire resistant material may be employed. For example, the paperboard may be chemically treated by any conventional technique to render it fire resistant. Preferably the body 1 comprises a one-piece blank 2 which is divided into upper and lower portions, 3 and 4 respectively, by a severance line 5 extending transversely partially across the body intermediate its ends as shown in FIGURE 5. Extending longitudinally between the top edge of upper portion 3 and severance line 5 is another severance line 6, which divides the upper portion 3 into a pair of fiaps or sidewalls 9. A plurality of longitudinal slits 7 are also provided on the bottom edge of lower portion 4 to permit the formation of bottom flaps 8. Glue strips 12 and 13 are provided along one side edge and the bottom edge of the body, respectively.

The severance lines 5 and 6 referred to above may be characterized by any of several constructions. For example, as shown in FIGURE 5, the lines may be formed by cutting slots in the body. Tear tabs 10 or other bridging means may be provided in the slots to hold the sections thus formed together thereby forming separable lines of weakness. Alternatively such lines of weakness could be formed by spaced perforations of any configuration or by mere scoring which does not extend completely through the wall. Still further, the severance lines may be formed by continuous slots in the body without any bridging means.

In assembly of the ash receiver, the body 1 is formed into a tubular configuration and the glue strip 12 is secured to the opposite edge 14 of the body. It will be understood that while the body 1 is preferably cylindrical the term tubular as used herein is not limited to configurations having a circular cross section. For example, the body could approach a cylindrical form and yet have a polygonal cross section.

Thereafter the bottom fiaps 8 are folded inwardly and secured by glue strips 13 to close one end of the body 1. It will be understood that the bottom closure may be formed by any of a variety of constructions. Referring to FIGURE 6 it may be seen that a cigarette 15 may then be inserted into the ash receiver body 1 whereupon a plurality of cigarettes and associated individual ash receivers may be packaged together in side by side relation in the usual rectangular cigarette package 16 without substantially departing from the size or shape of such package. If desired, less than all of the cigarettes in the package may be equipped with an ash receiver. For example, one, two or any number of ash receivers may be installed on selected cigarettes in the package.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the ash receiver is preferably shorter than the cigarette 15 to facilitate the extraction of the cigarette from the receiver.

In use, a cigarette having an ash receiver associated therewith is removed from a package, whereupon the cigarette is then extracted from the ash receiver. The severance lines are broken and sidewalls 9 of upper portion 3 are opened and fiared to form an open trough to receive ashes from an ignited cigarette and guide them into the still tubular portion 4 of the ash receiver as shown in FIGURE 3. When the cigarette has been smoked, the butt may be inserted into the bottom portion 4 of the ash receiver whereupon the top portion 3 may be folded over to cut off the oxygen supply and thereby completely extinguish the cigarette. The ash receiver may then be discarded or disposed of in any convenient manner.

While the ash receiver of this invention has been described with particular reference to cigarettes, it is not limited to use with cigarettes, but may be employed with any elongated smokeable tobacco product including cigarettes and cigars.

Moreover, while the invention has been described with particular reference to a preferred specific embodiment, many other modifications may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined solely by the following'claims.

I claim:

1. An individual disposable ash receiver comprising a tubular body to removably encase only a single elongated smokeable-tobacco product and thus to be packaged with said product, said body'having adiameter slightly greater than the diameter of said one product to closely surround the product, said body having a transverse slot extending around a portion of the circumference of said body intermediate its ends to divide said body into upper and lower portions; said upper portion having an open upper end and a longitudinal slot extending between said transverse slot' and the open end of said upper portion so that said upper portion may be opened into a flared trough to facilitate the receiving of ashes when said product is removed, said lower portion having a closed wall of substantial strength at the lower end of said slot to prevent extension of said trough into said lower portion.

2. An article according to claim 1 wherein said slots are discontinuous with separable bridging portions therebetween.

3. A package comprising a container, a plurality of elongated smokeable tobacco products positioned in said container in side by side relation, at last one disposable ash receiver having an elongated tubular body conforming to the configuration of and removably encasing a respective one only of said products, said body having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of said one product to closely surround the product and an open upper end to permit longitudinal removal of the product, said body having a closed end and means to provide an opening in said body having a cross sectional area subtantially larger than the cross sectional area of said body below said opening for receiving ashes into said opening when said body is removed from its respective one of said products, said opening extending longitudinally only a portion of the length of said body, said body having a wall of substantial strength at the lower end of said opening to prevent extension thereof beyond said lower end.

4. A package as recited in claim 3 wherein said tubular body is shorter than its encased product which protrudes from said open end.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,692,410 Jones Nov. 20, 1928 2,122,480 Lowey July 5, 1938 2,128,374 Midulla Aug. 30, 1938 2,194,168 Klein Mar. 19, 1940 2,890,705 Beck June 16, 1959 2,900,987 Campbell Aug. 25, 1959 3,028,950 Content Apr. 10, 1962 

1. AN INDIVIDUAL DISPOSABLE ASH RECEIVER COMPRISING A TUBULAR BODY TO REMOVABLY ENCASE ONLY A SINGLE ELONGATED SMOKEABLE TOBACCO PRODUCT AND THUS TO BE PACKAGED WITH SAID PRODUCT, SAID BODY HAVING A DIAMETER SLIGHTLY GREATER THAN THE DIAMETER OF SAID ONE PRODUCT TO CLOSELY SURROUND THE PRODUCT, SAID BODY HAVING A TRANSVERSE SLOT EXTENDING AROUND A PORTION OF THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID BODY INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS TO DIVIDE SAID BODY INTO UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS; SAID UPPER PORTION HAVING AN OPEN UPPER END AND A LONGITUDINAL SLOT EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID TRANSVERSE SLOT AND THE OPEN END OF SAID UPPER PORTION SO THAT SAID UPPER PORTION MAY BE OPENED INTO A FLARED TROUGH TO FACILITATE THE RECEIVING OF ASHES WHEN SAID PRODUCT IS REMOVED, SAID LOWER PORTION HAVING A CLOSED WALL OF SUBSTANTIAL STRENGTH AT THE LOWER END OF SAID SLOT TO PREVENT EXTENSION OF SAID TROUGH INTO SAID LOWER PORTION. 